"I want to make absolutely clear that we will support him not only as the current president of the European Commission but for election as the next president of the European Commission," Brown said in London at a joint news conference with Barroso.
"He has done an excellent job as president of the European Commission. He has been building a stronger, fairer and more prosperous Europe and has led the way on climate change. He has been building consensus among European leaders on the challenges that face us collectively."
The public endorsement by Brown, a member of the Party of European Socialists (PES), comes as a welcome show of support for Barroso, whose re-appointment as Commission president was recently thrown into doubt.
Leaders of the conservative European People's Party (EPP) informally endorsed Barroso, a member of their party, for a second term in October last year (EurActiv 16/10/08).
But French President Nicolas Sarkozy earlier this month cautioned against appointing a new Commission president too quickly.
"Regarding the different candidacies, as you know we are subject to the decision of our Irish friends for the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty and depending on that, we will ask ourselves the question," Sarkozy said at the conclusion of an EU summit on 1 March (EurActiv 3/03/09). Sarkozy did, however, reiterate his personal liking for Barroso.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel - also an EPP member - has also remained silent in recent months over Barroso's future, refraining from giving him an explicit vote of support until she assesses his ongoing handling of the financial crisis.
Meanwhile, European socialist leaders have not yet agreed whether they should openly back one of their party members to succeed Barroso. While centre-left leaders such as Spain's José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero and Portugal's José Sócrates have backed Barroso for a second term, some national party affiliates have openly challenged this stance.
"We are currently having a debate within the PES on this issue," said Harlem Désir, an MEP who heads the French Socialists' list in the Paris region. Speaking to EurActiv France in an interview, Désir said there was "no doubt" that Rasmussen would agree to be a candidate "if the Socialist party has a majority at the end of the election".
"But we believe that all socialist parties which are members of the PES should together endorse this candidacy as soon as the electoral campaign starts," Désir added.
